Time to unearth some more ColourPop lippies from my drafts folder! Two of these beauties come from the discontinued Karreuche Tran collaboration, which I bought during the Last Call for that collection, while Love Bug is part of the permanent range. These three are a great example of why I have a love/hate relationship with the Ultra Matte Lips - read on to find out why!

Ultra Mattes come boxed (with names on the boxes, perfect for my preferred storage!) and usually have clear packaging with silver caps and trim, although the Karreuche Tran collaboration shades have copper trim and labelling to set them apart. They have a slim angled doefoot applicator that I find easy to work with for outlining lips and distributing the product evenly.

Formula Overview:

All of ColourPop's liquid lipsticks are richly pigmented and have a slightly chemical scent although it's not strong or offensive.
The Ultra Matte range dries down to a flat matte finish quickly and tends to be more hit or miss than their other formulas. When it's good, it's really bloody good and when it's bad, it's a flakey, shrivelled, drying mess. I fervently wish they'd land on something more consistent but at least at $6USD a pop they're not going to break the bank. Saigon and Rooch are both really good formula-wise; they don't flake, streak or cake up during application but Love Bug didn't fare so well, as I'll talk about shortly.

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Love Bug

Love Bugis described as a 'rich mahogany'. The colour is divine, but the formula sadly leaves much to be desired! It cakes up on the lips and turns into a shrivelled mess that has my lips looking rich mahogany raisins. During its eight-hour wear time, it flakes away instead of fading evenly and it's become notorious for these issues in the ColourPop Fanatics group. Apparently adding a drop of cosmetic grade oil, such as argan oil, will fix the issue and make it more like the Ultra Satin formula, but why should you need to? ColourPop have released a Lippie Stix dupe called Secret Stash and Ziggie Lippie Stix is a close match too.

Saigon

Saigon(discontinued) is described as a 'vibrant warm-toned true red'. Application and opacity were both fantastic and I LOVE the colour but I wasn't thrilled to experience feathering with Saigon - actually the first time I've ever experienced this with a liquid matte! The feathering was more pronounced with oily food, so that's something I'll keep in mind next time I wear it. All up, it lasted eight hours on me.

Rooch

Rooch(discontinued) is described as a 'deepened russet wine'. It dries down a little unevenly (you can see a few shinier sections in the swatch where this occurred) but overall the colour payoff and intensity are more than enough to make up for this in my books. Rooch wore for a whopping eight hours on me without being drying. Dark liquid mattes can so often be patchy and frustrating to work with, so I'm thrilled with Rooch's performance - wish I'd bought a backup!